I don't typically like books where the protagonist is obviously fighting for the wrong side. This book managed to win me over by providing a large cast of memorable supporting characters, a vivid and distinct Science-Fiction setting, and constant varied action sequences.

The lowest points in my enjoyment of the book were the periods of lull and slow struggle between the excitement. Maybe it is necessary to understand the fun parts of the story, but I will never enjoy reading about an injured character dragging himself around for an extended period of time. I'd greatly prefer skipping to the moment when the injured character reaches their destination, and does something. If I had readg the book in print, rather than listening to an audiobook, I would have happily skipped that sort of thing. ( )

Great introduction to the Culture universe - an interesting vision of where humanity may evolve if all our daily "needs" are satisfied and the quest for capital and financial rewards disappears. What if we had everything we wanted - but still had the human need to attain "something".... and then came across another society who completely disagreed.

Also an interesting side story about the evolution of sentient machine life. If machine intelligence continues to progress, and eventually surpasses their creators, does society then need to recognize them as sentient - and allow the same rights and privileges? The machines we create no longer are required to do the tasks they were created for - and the impact on society becomes very complex.

Banks creates a compelling storyline with characters you can relate to... even if 3 legged adversaries bent on humanities destruction or machine based. All in all a very satisfying read. ( )

More linear that I was expecting, but (at least the first two-thirds) very immersive nonetheless. The final third on Schar's World was very slow in comparison with the rest of the book and could have done with some cutting. ( )

Had never read any Iain M. Banks before, so decided to try the first book of his Culture storiesafter reading a site about recommended sci-fi series.

Set against the backdrop of a galaxy ranging war between the Culture and the Idirans, the main protagonistsand their objectives are quickly established but just as quickly forgotten, as the book takes themain character on a seemingly never ending detour.

I kept reading chapter after chapter in the middle section wondering when it was going to get back on track.

And this is my problem. The whole middle section, to me, serves no purpose. With more judicial editing, thebook could have flowed better and delivered a more satisfying experience.

As an introduction to the Culture, it served its purpose and I may look at some of the other books in theseries, but Consider Phlebas was, for me, entertaining but forgettable. ( )

The choice of name was definitely not an attempt to gain literary credentials or he would have ditched the ‘camp aliens and laser blasters.’ He has acknowledged the similarities to the poem in that the main character in Consider Phlebas is drowning and later undergoes a ’sea-change’ – this being a motif running through The Waste Land – but that is far as it goes.But there are a number of parallels between the two works, whether deliberate or not on Iain’s part. To prove my point I will take a brief look at Consider Phlebas and then at The Waste Land, followed by examples of how the latter informs the former.

The war raged across the galaxy. Billions had died, billions more were doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, faced destruction, cold-blooded, brutal, and worse, random. The Idirans fought for their Faith; the Culture for its moral right to exist. Principles were at stake. There could be no surrender.

Within the cosmic conflict, an individual crusade. Deep within a fabled labyrinth on a barren world, a Planet of the Dead proscribed to mortals, lay a fugitive Mind. Both the Culture and the Idirans sought it. It was the fate of Horza, the Changer, and his motley crew of unpredictable mercenaries, human and machine, actually to find it, and with it their own destruction.